Improvement in uterine and abdominal supporters



AM. PHOTO-LITHO. C0. NX (USBORNES PROCESS.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

JOSEPH S. HAVENS, T. M. JOHNSON, AND O. W. .HOVVE, OF BUFFALO, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN UTERINE ANDGABDOMINAL SUPPORTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 57,505, dated August28, 1866.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that we, JOSEPH S. HAVENS, THOMAS M. JOHNSON, and CAREY W.HOWE,

of Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of m New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Uterine and Abdominal Supporters;and we do hereby declare that the following is a clear and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of our invention consists in, first, the combination of theuterine and abdominal supporter, when both are so constructed as to becapable of adjustment, so that they may be made to fit any form desiredwithout the necessity of using difterentsized instruments; second, inproviding the lower joint of the uterine supporter with a rack andsegment of a pinion and a set-screw, by means of which it may be lockedfirmly in place at any angle or position required; third, in making thetube and frame which holds the ring for supporting the uterus capable ofa vertical adjustment by means of an additional tube and setscrew;fourth, in the combinatiom'with said ring and instrument, of one or moreadditional rings of similar form, but of different metals, for thepurpose of making a galvanic instrument of it when necessary.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use our invention, wewill proceed to describe its construct-ion and operation.

We construct our instrument of the usual materia-ls. Thepad forsupporting the abdomen is made of sheet metal. lt is padded with cottonor wool on the inside, and'covered with silk or cotton velvet or othersoft material. The outside may be covered either with ine leather orvelvet, as desired. The elastic band which surrounds the waist is madeinthe usual way and of the same materials, suoli as silk or cottoninterwoven with india-rubber. The uterine supporter is made of gold,silver, platina, or any other suitable material; but for the ring forsupporting the uterus ivory may, in some cases, be preferred.

Figure l in the accompanying drawings is a perspective view, showing theinstrument in about the position it would occupy if placed 0n the personand adjusted. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the ring for supporting theuterus. Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the rings, the body, andjoint of the uterine supporter. Fig. et is a section of a fragment ofthe abdominal supporter through line l 2 in Fig. l. Fig. 5 is aperspective view of the rack which forms part of the joint. Fig. 6 isaplan ofthe lower frame of the uterine supporter, also an end view of thetubes which form part of the frame for the rings, a similar view'of therack for locking the joint, and a part of the stem by which it isattached to the abdominal supporter. Fig. 7 represents a side elevationof the joint, showing the position of the rack when it is desired tohave the joint work loose Fig. Sis also a side view, representing therack in the position for locking the joint, and set-screw which holds itin place, and at the some time fastens in position the frame forsupporting the uterus. Fig. 9 is a side view of one of the galvanicrings.

In Fig. l, A represent-s the belt or elastic band for holding theabdominal supporterin place. Itis buttoned on the supporter by means ofthe buttons B and O, which are fastened firmly to the supporter, and thestraps E E, which are made of leather and stitched or otherwise fastenedto the elastic band. Each strap contains a number of button-holes, forthe purpose of adjusting it to different sizes, as shown.' D D and D Dare loops, under which the ends of said straps are slipped when buttonedon and in place.

F is the pad forming the support for the abdomen. It is made of sheetmetal, and is stamped slightly concave, to iit the parts, and is coveredwith the usual materials, velvet.,

&c. On the inside of the pad is an oblong tube. It is shown by thedotted lines in Fig.

l, and marked G G. An end View of this tube is shown in Fig. 4.

The dotted lines between the lines G G represent a continuation ofthe'stem K of the uterine supporter. This stem is made to tit the tubeand to slip easilyr up or down through it. It contains a number ofholes, as shown in Fig. l, and marked I I I I. The set-screw J passesthrough the concave plate and screws into either of these holes, thusholding the stem firmly in place.

L is the ring for supporting the uterus. It

, lipS projects inward from the tube P.

lat the same time holds the tube P in its proper is made as smooth aspossible and swings upon two joints, N N. It is adjusted to the positiondesired by the rod O, which is jointed to it at the point O', and passesdown through the tube P, and terminates in an -ivory ball orthumb-piece, R. R and It are notches in said rod, which spring over thelip S, for the purpose of holding the ring L in position. The

Pis a tube, through which the tube P passes. It is fastened to a short.tube, U, running at right angles to it. The rod U, which is fastened ateach end to the frame T, passes through the tube U, thus forming afulcrum upon which it moves, together with the tubesP and Pf.

V and V are two segments of a circle, with teeth on the circumference ofeach to tit the rack W, as shown in Fig. 8. The segments V and V arefastened to the rod U, and thetubes U and P vibrate between them.

X X are two ledges or projections between which the rackWis placed. Whenit is desired to have the tube P', or the uterus-supporting frame, tovibrate or move easily upon the rod U', the rack W is placed betweenledges X X as shown in Fig. 7, so that the teeth in the rack will notinterlock with the teeth in the segments V V, as shown. The screw Q,passes through the rack, which it holds in place, and

position within the tube P. When it is desired to lock the joint theposition of the rack is reversed, as shown in Fig. 8, the set-screw Qbeing used as before to hold it in place, together with the tube P.

rlhe ring M is used to give a galvanic action tothe instrument. It ispressed into the ring L, as shown in section in Fig. 3. It is made ot' adifferent metal from the ring L.

The instrument is adjusted to the person as follows: The ring L isbrought into the position shown in Fig. 3 by drawing vdown the rod O bythe thumb-piece R. It is then introduced into the proper position forsupporting the uterus. The rod O is then pressed upward until either ofthe notches R R catch over the lip S, when the ring Lis in place. It isnow adjusted vertically by bringing the tube PY either up or down to thepoint desired, and fastening it with the set-screw Q. The joint may beallowed to run loose or be locked when required, as before mentioned.The abdominal supporter is now adjusted vertically, as hereinbeiorementioned, by means of the set'- screw J, and up to the abdomen bymeans'of the elastic band A, the straps E E, and buttons B and O, asbefore described.

We do not claim the ring L, the tube P, which branches off and supportsthe ring L at the joints N N, and swings upon ajoint near the point U',or the lip S, near the bottom of said tube; neither do we claim the rodO, with the notches R R', the frame T, or simply the stem K; nor do weclaim a supporter-pad when .fastened immovably to said stem; but

What we do claim as our invention, and desire to secure by LettersPatent, is-

l. 1n providing the joint of the uterine supporter with a rack, aset-screw, and a segment of a pinion, as described, by means of which itmay beeither locked in position or swing loosely uponthe rod U', asdesired. v

2. In making the tube P, with the supporting-ring L, adjustablevertically by means of the set-screw Q and the tube P', as described.

3. The, combination of the ring M with the ring L of said supporter,when constructed as and for the purposes set forth.

JOSEPH S. HAVENS. THOS. M. JOHNSON. CAREY W. HOWE.

Witnesses:

R. M. CRooK, W. G. REA.

